Can our young players tackle

[jamesdad]

I watched closely our young players during the recent home game against Colchester United to see how they performed and possibly how they would deal with league 2. It was obvious to me that they lacked the ability to tackle the opposition and preferred to mark open space and not get near to the player that they should have been marking. I saw one or two good solid tackles from the opposition and our players then avoided them for the rest of the match. League 2 is going to be very hard and physical and I feel our home grown players will not be able to withstand the pressure that is going to come there way. Do they get taught to tackle at the academy or is it all about nice football , passing the ball around. That's why Grant was so popular at the club because he would get stuck in and tackle. It appears that players we purchase or loan can tackle but not our own . Anyone got any views on this as I feel this will be our weak spot next season and teams will exploit it to there a

[TrinidadsNumberOne]

Very interesting point you raise. I would associate our best two seasons under Steve Davis with physical, high pressing football of a high intensity with the fitness of the players being paramount to its success. This season, none of our players play with intensity and mark open space allowing the opposition to easily pick us apart almost effortlessly!

I blame James Collins for this, I watch a lot of Spanish football and we literally try to play like some of the teams do there. However, there's a fundamental difference between preferred playing styles in both England and Spain. Spanish football lacks the physicality,instead emphasising long retention of possession and defending of territory aka zonal marking whereas the English game is long associated with man-marking, strong physicality and pacey counter-attacking football.

The problem is that these FA seminars Collins has gone on to make him a highly qualified coach pollute coaches with the Spanish way because they've been extr

[jamesdad]

I can see your point on James Collins but it all stems from Dario and when he set up the academy.He has this style of play from the under 6's all the way up to the 1st team . They all have to play the same way so that they understand the style. When we have sold players the new clubs coach them in the physical side of the game . I remember Hulse and Ashton being more aggressive players at there new clubs.The other night we were trying the retention game but a hard challenge and we lost the ball and did not challenge to get it back .
I would like to see a new manager and coaches who put some fight into the 1st team and get the younger players of all ages to do the same . At the current time Dario has a big say on the academy as he is a director but when he is no longer on the board and John Bowler has also gone who will be pushing for this style of play.I feel that a change is needed now to save this club from going into the Conference
.

[AstonAlex]

I would suggest that, with a few notable exceptions, none of our Academy players have been able to tackle, the obvious exception being Seth Johnson. We have turned out a few decent defenders over the years (Rob Jones, David Wright), but they were better known for pace, timing and positional play rather than strength in the tackle - Dario brought in the likes of Steve Macauley, Dave Walton, Efe Sodje and Smithy for that. The picture hasn't changed recently either, with Westwood, Murphy et al being supplemented by Osman and Grant.

Recent midfield recruits such as Bingham and Fox seem to me to be no different to what we already have and that the manager should be criticised for not bringing in players with complementary rather than similar abilities. The only regular first teamer this season who can produce a firm, well-timed tackle is Guthrie, but even he can't play all along the Back 4 every match!

I am a big supported of the Academy but others do turn out players who can tac

[bigroof]

I can remember Dario saying that tackling isn't something you teach; some are better at it than others, such as Gary Roberts & Michael O'Connor. Such players relish it. I suspect we'll never know for sure why Anthony Grant was allowed to leave, but I always thought Turton, after two years grooming him to play in midfield, some of the time alongside Grant, was someone who relished it. He actually showed that in the one game recently when he was asked to play there again.
A lot of teams play the 'pressing game' that we hear so much about these days, but even the arch-exponents in the Premier League, Tottenham & Klopp's Liverpool, find it hard to sustain it for a whole game. I haven't seen any of our opponents actually sustain it either, this season. It's clear that James Jones is always looking to retrieve the ball, especially if it's he who has conceded possession; that side of his game has developed this season. Fox isn't cut out for it, neither is Bingham really, so it makes it seem

[Furberstreet]

Many of SD's signings have been puzzling. Grant clearly added value as a ball winner and tough tackler. Irrespective of why he was allowed to leave, it was clear that his departure left a hole in Crewe's midfield that no-one is presently able to fill. Possession football is ok provided that we can win the ball back. Given SD's position as a pro-footballer, you would think that tackling would be encouraged.

[David_De_ Garratt]

Grant Situation: If I remember correctly from Pre-Season, Davis provided his spin on things about wanting to change the approach this season by implementing a possession based passing game with players dropped if they didn't move the ball forward. Essentially, Davis replaced Grant with Fox to implement this system and well, that approach has spectacularly backfired!

Next Season - Recruitment is essential. The first team will need a defensive minded player who will relish a challenge and not shy away from the 50-50 challenges and I believe the younger players will be influenced to want to try and get involved in the physical side of the game. I know from playing with certain players, I've been influenced to want to get stuck in more so recruitment is essential this season.

Turton - It's an interesting one really, isn't he out of contract this summer? He's struggled at RB this season but I think he could be the type of player who would compete in the centre of mid, even as a squ

[AstonAlex]

I would have Turton back in CM right away . . looked fine there in the chances he had and NG was no worse at RB